100 visually impaired girls participate in rajo

Berhampur: About 100 visually impaired girls participated in the just concluded three-day rajo, a seasonal festival for the girls. The girls, aged between five and 20 years, dressed up, played, danced and even enjoyed boating at the Biju Patnaik Park here. The organisers – Odisha Service Centre for the Blind (OSCB) distributed traditional sweets like poda peetha, manda and kakara among them.

"We were very happy celebrating raja like the other girls… We now feel proud and consider ourselves as fit as any other girls," said Anu Behera, a visually impaired student of plus two student of SBR Women`s College here. Bhabani Shankar Padhy, secretary of the organisation and himself blind said the programme was organised so that its inmates do not feel disabled. OSCB has been holding such celebrations for the visually impaired girls for the past four years.

It was established by a group of blind people to cater to those suffering from the same predicament keeping in mind their need for school and college educations and rehabilitation through vocational training. Around 100 blind girls from across the state stay in the center, which is run with donations from the people.

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